Hurricane Zeta devastated citrus crops and nurseries in southeast Louisiana. Matt Doyle has the story.
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Veterans Day this year has prompted some ceremonies to be altered due to the pandemic, but it’s still important to honor the tradition. Brooke Thorington has more
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A COVID outbreak on the LSU football team has led to the postponement and possible cancellation of this weekend’s contest in Tiger Stadium against Alabama. Matt Doyle has the story.
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Hurricane Zeta did a lot of damage to citrus crops and nurseries in southeast Louisiana, the most hurricane damage suffered in the area since Katrina in 2005.
LSU Ag Center Horticultural Agent Joe Willis says growers lost 75 to 90 percent of the fruit in impacted areas.
Farmers were either mid-harvest for some fruits like satsumas or just weeks away from picking their harvest.
Willis says the late timing of the storm was brutal for vegetable farmers who had already transitioned to their fall crops. He says the damage is less than for the fruits, only about half were lost.
Cauliflower in particular took a beating, with the top leaves being torn from the plants leaving them alive, but discolored and difficult to sell.
The worst damage was in the poinsettia crops. Willis says 95 percent of the holiday staple crop was lost in southeast Louisiana.
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As we honor veterans this veteran’s day, the Louisiana Department of Veterans’ Affairs says COVID has presented challenges to several observations in 2020. Veterans Secretary Colonel Joey Strickland says ceremonies that are normally held at VA homes are closed to the public this year.
Strickland says several schools are holding ceremonies across the state to honor vets and in Bossier City today a Women’s Veterans statue will be dedicated.
To assist Louisiana vets Strickland says the department works with several organizations whose sole focus is to place veterans in the workforce and now there is a new program to help vets become business owners.
Strickland says helping veterans during the pandemic has been a challenge for the department, not being able to meet in person and attend conferences, but they are doing the best they can.
PAVE website
https://www.opportunitylouisiana.com/small-business/special-programs-for-small-business/pathway-to-assist-veteran-entrepreneurs
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Governor John Bel Edwards announced a major technology agreement in northwest Louisiana Tuesday at LSU-Shreveport. The more than $3-million agreement with the university and LED will help advance students’ careers in technology at the Cyber Collaboratory.
Edwards says LSUS is the fastest-growing higher education campus in the state and the new Cyber Collaboratory will only continue to attract new students.
The expansion is not exclusive for technology students, Edwards credits Chancellor Larry Clark with allowing the Collaboratory to benefit students of all majors.
The LSUS technology agreement is the latest in a series of milestones along the I-20 Cyber Corridor. Edwards says when he visits the Nation’s Capital, leaders are impressed with growing advancements.
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Saturday’s LSU-Bama game in Baton Rouge has been postponed due to a COVID outbreak on LSU’s team.
CBS Sports National College Football Writer Dennis Dodd says it’s not a surprise that we would lose a game of this magnitude because despite team’s best mitigation efforts these college players aren’t living in a bubble…
Cases are also spiking in over 40 states. Louisiana is doing better than most in the country but there’s an indication that cases in Louisiana are on the rise as part of the dreaded “Winter Wave.”
Rescheduling the game will be tough considering LSU already had to flex their Florida game into a later season bye-week. It’s a blow to the local economy and Dodd says it’s yet another blow to the program’s finances…
Dodd says the cancellation also leads to a crisis of legitimacy for the College Football Playoffs if the SEC doesn’t manage to get a full season in.
Dodd says the rash of COVID outbreaks in the sport could result in New Orleans no longer hosting a first-round college football playoff game as officials seek to create a playoff bubble.
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Even though we are seeing more and more canceled high school football games because of COVID-19, the LHSAA is moving forward with plans to have a postseason, with the championship games at the Superdome from December 26th to the 28th. Executive Director Eddie Bonine says teams must play four games to make the playoffs and the size of the playoff brackets will not change
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Bonine says schools with a COVID issue during the postseason will be removed from the bracket and their opponent will advance to the next round.
There are still two more regular-season games left. Bonine is glad they’ve made it this far with a vast majority of the games being played
In December, the Saints are allowed to have 15-thousand fans at their home games. Bonine says he’s not sure the exact number that will be allowed in the Dome, but they’ll do what the local authorities ask…